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tv   MSNBC Live  MSNBC  October 2, 2012 8:00am-9:00am PDT

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here was the issue. the pennsylvania passes this new voter i.d. law in march. people that didn't have a driver's license, a government-issued photo i.d. could get the michigan state identification card. then the state said that can be used to board airplanes. we need all sorts of forms of identification. then the state changed its mind and said we'll issue a voter i.d. card that's different. only if you can't get the other card. then they changed their mind on that. the judge said i can't be sure. even though the state has now cured a lot of these problems, i can't be sure enough people are going to be able to get the right kind of identification to allow this law to go into effect. i'm going to let the state continue to educate people about the need for photo i.d. i'm going to let the state ask for photo i.d. atle positive, but enjoin the part of the law that requires voters to have photo i.d. people wanted it all put on hold. the judge said i don't need to go that far. there is always the possibility the state could go back to the
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supreme court on this, but begin how skeptical the supreme court was when they looked at this a few weeks ago, i think it's over. that means that the new voter i.d. law for the most part will not go into effect in pennsylvania. people who oppose this law say the judge's ruling may create confusion. it leaves the impression you may have to have a photo i.d. law. he doesn't think that will be a problem, but he can't take the state's word that they are going to get all the problems fixed in time for the election. >> it's a big development with 20 electoral votes in pennsylvania. later we'll get reaction to this decision from former pennsylvania governor ed rendell and mayor michael nutter. who will bring the dynamite to denver? a little over the a day for the presidential debate. both president obama and mitt romney getting ready for their first face-off tomorrow night in
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colorado. doing the hefty lifting on the number two on the ticket and the candidates' wives. mitt romney is in denver where last night he tried to put the kibosh on predebate winning. >> people want to know who is going to win, who will make the biggest difference and scoring of winning and losing. in my view it's not so much winning and losing or even the people themselves, the president and myself, it's about something bigger than that. these debates are an opportunity for each of us to describe the pathway forward for america that we would choose. >> his rival president obama who is in day number three of debate camp in nevada dropped by one of his own campaign headquarters. >> it was very nice, you know. although, basically, they are keeping me indoors all the time. it's a drag. they are making me do my homework.
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>> despite the best efforts, the drum beat is building. it's getting louder and louder with great debate expectations on both sides of the aisle. >> i expect the tone to be a little bit less aggressive than people might be expecting. i expect the content to be pointed and sharp and specific. i think you can go into combat without having to raise the decibels too much. i expect the tone to be a little bit less aggressive than people might be expecting. i expect the content to be pointed and sharp and specific. i think you can go into combat without having to raise the decibels too much. >> joining me from the obama campaign headquarters in chicago is national press secretary for obama for america. we did have a sound bite from congresswoman debby wasserman
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schultz. if we get that cued up, let me know and we'll cut to it. i want to play paul ryan. he did a live interview with bloomberg this morning. here is what he had to say about what he expects to see from president obama. >> president is not telling the truth about what we are proposing. he can't run his record so he has to distort mitt romney's record. he has to divide the country to distract the country to win by default. >> here is what you hear over and over again, distort the record. governor romney saying in a prior interview with "meet the press," the president wouldn't be truthful. what is your response to the romney campaign seeing mitt romney, seeing paul ryan predicting the president to be untruthful? >> that is an interesting talking point coming from candidates whose convention was based on a tripod of lies, talking about a welfare reform attack president clinton called false in the architect of welfare reform called false. blaming the president for the closure of a gm plant that was
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slated for closure during the previous administration. here are the facts. the $5 trillion tax plan that mitt romney and paul ryan put on the table, you can't pay for it without raising taxes on the middle class and raising taxes on seniors. the same economists who mitt romney referred to to back up his plan said you couldn't pay for it without eliminating the mortgage introduction which many middle class families rely on if they have more specifics, we are interested to hear those tomorrow night. so far we haven't heard how you pay for it without raising taxes on the middle class. >> as we look at a new quinnipiac poll, it's finding more of the majority of americans think the president will win the debates. the president has done his best to temper debate expectations looming out there, saying he's just an okay debater. is your campaign worried these high expectations could backfire on the president? >> the president will come into the debates prepared. mitt romney has been preparing for the debates earlier than any candidate we could find on
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record since july. it took the week of the convention to prepare for the debates. according to "the new york times," he spent eight days preparing for this debate. we expect him to come in ready. he is preparing a bunch of zingers for the debate. we don't think that's how american people will score this. if you want to see zincers, tune into david letterman or seth myers. they want to see a plan to restore economic security for the middle class. that is what the president will accomplish tomorrow night and outline that plan for the american people. >> there is this headline in politico today about how the president needs to avoid quotes that dog him, that washington is broken. one-term proposition. is the debate about avoiding those land mines for the president? keeping the campaign narrative status quo? moving forward, not losing his temper and remaining calm with his substance and not the style?
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>> i think we see the debates like we saw the convention, which is an opportunity to reach millions of americans, many tuning in for the first time, and some undecided and to lay out the economic choice between the two candidates. do you think we should build the economy from the middle class out like the president does or the top down like mitt romney does? >> credit ben labolt, thanks for joining us today. >> thanks. >> we say good morning to our tuesday political power panel. leah henderson, ted devine, senior strategist for al gore and john kerry. eugene robinson wrote in "the washington post" the challenges facing mitt romney in this debate, but going specifically saying romney's task is more difficult. for the umpteenth time he has to
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introduce himself to the american people and erase all the impressions of the mitt romney we met earlier and reveal a coherent person, one voters can imagine as a leader. is this debate more romney against himself? critics paint him displaying this flaccid leadership. >> he has to present himself as a president who would represent all americans. he said that several times. he's practicing that debate line. here again, even when he engages with that comment, it reminds people of that 47% remark. you see him over the last couple of days. i think it was today there is an interview in the "denver post" where he seems to be softening his stances around immigration. here is a candidate looking at a huge deficit in some of these swing states, deficits among hispanics, deficits among women. he's got to make ground up in
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this 90 minutes. it's not a long time. he has to please republicans who have been calling for him to get more specific in terms of his plans around tax reform and all sorts of other ideas he has. he has a real tall order going into this debate. >> governor romney is dogged about the 47% remark. i want to show the interview he did this week with a local affiliate. >> if you could go back to that fund-raiser, would you have said it differently? >> it's difficult for me to know how they will cobble 51% of the people. i'm going to be a president for the 100% of the people. i demonstrated throughout my life. >> the question should be if you could go back, would you sweep that room for cameras to make sure you weren't being recorded. will that answer be enough when
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asked about this? as he is sure to be asked about this tomorrow night. >> i'm sure, obviously, that was a very inartful statement he said. i'm sure had he hit the rewind button, he would do it all over again. what mitt romney needs to do is connect to the people. >> is he sorry he said it or sorry he got caught saying it? there is a big difference there. sorry for saying it or sorry for being caught? >> i don't know the answer to that. listening to what he just said, he sounds like he is sorry he said it. moving forward, what he needs to do tomorrow night is connect with the american people in a humanistic way. people would say maybe that is a good thing. it's okay to change your positions because perhaps maybe you're not so rigid. the question becomes whether you have a core philosophical belief and you're able to connect with the american people. that's way needs to do tomorrow is to be able to draw the dots and say not only can i
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understand what you're going through, but i can lead this country the next four years. >> one thing is the fact he's been prepping these stingers. >> i agree with governor sununu this debate can't be about decibels. it has to be about details. thus far, we've not seen any details. what we've heard during the news reports about governor romney's debate preparations, that he really plans, seems to plan to treat the debate stage more like a school yard playground in practicing zingers. >> the hill is suggesting the challenge for governor romney and the president, despite zingers is to keep their cool. this year's debate, they suggest the president has a general disdain for romney. he objects to republican attacks on his welfare position.
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such disdain can be a killer. the cut-aways told the tale. sighing and people looking at their watches. is that going to be the mark here people both sides keeping their calm for the cut-aways? >> i think so. the candidates have to realize they are on camera every second of that debate. it's not just what you communicate verbally, the way you answer questions. it's the way you look, the style, capacity you bring to this stage. i think the president and governor romney's people understand that's a big part of what voters take away from this debate performance. >> thanks so much. >> thank you. up next, more on the pitfalls president obama and governor romney face in tomorrow's big first debate. past is prologue. i'll talk to historian alan schroeder to wrote the book on presidential debates. plus we want to hear about you.
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in over 50 years of televised debates taught us they can turn on unplanned zingers, gaffes, gestures that speak volumes. >> he's very likable, i agree with that. i don't think i'm that bad. >> you're likable enough. >> thank you. >> 10,000 bucks? $10,000 bet? >> i'm not in the betting business. >> a small sampling of what we could expect to see tomorrow night. then candidate obama was condescending in the clip where he was against hillary clinton. mitt romney came off as an
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elitist in the primary. alan schroeder is a journalism professional at north eastern university. among the books he authored, "presidential debates, 50 years of high-risk tv." great to have you here. as we look forward to what we'll see tomorrow night, both president obama and mitt romney maybe had experience in these debates. the president survived 26 primary debates and three general election debates in '08. romney's experience goes back to the 1994 senate run against ted kennedy. he endured 19 of the republican primary debates. if we start with the president, he's been able to elevate himself in the debates with senator john mccain and appear presidential. i want to remind how he did so. moments like this. >> in a short career, he does not understand our national security challenges. we don't have time for on-the job training, my friend. >> senator mccain in the last debate and today again suggested
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i don't understand. it's true. there are some things i don't understand. i don't understand how we ended up invading a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 while osama bin laden and al qaeda are setting up base camps and safe havens to train terrorists to attack us. that was senator mccain's judgment. >> the president also has this tenacity or tendency to ramble. in one democratic debate he appeared to be sleeping. the biggest pitfalls you would recommend that the president needs to avoid? >> i think actually, the rest of us may be sleeping when we watch this debate tomorrow night. however, i think the thing obama will have to work on, in his debate preps, they've been force-feeding him that old clip of hillary, don't do anything like that again. there is the point you just made about speaking in a professorial way. these are not lectures. if he can convey a sense of relaxation that he is not terrified to be there and appreciates the chance to make his case to the american people.
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those things will work well in his favor. >> for those people that tuned in during the republican primaries, they saw mitt romney being trial by fire, so to speak. sometimes came across thin skinned. >> rick, again, i'm speaking. i'm speaking. i'm speaking. >> it's time for you to tell the truth. >> i get 30 seconds. this is the way the rules work. i get 60 seconds. >> the american people want the truth. >> i get to respond, right? >> mitt romney was able to beat his republican challengers with tough rebuttals and good lines. he's been prepping extensively for the debate tomorrow night. is that a good thing or bad thing? does he run the risk coming across too rehearsed? >> the fact they are spending eight days in debate camp is unprecedented, no question about that. the danger of that is you overprogram the guy to the point where he gets on that stage and he is in some invisible straitjacket. that's the last thing they need. bill clinton said something
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smart about debates. they are like jazz. there is a melody you have to play, but you have to be able to imp improvi improvise, as well. if you're too rigid, you don't hear the opportunity to riff. >> there is a rich history and not all of them involve what the candidate said rather than what they did. when president bush was checking his watch. the cut-aways are so pivotal to see what type of response the other candidate is having. the reaction, that is. both sides need to play this cool, correct? >> they sure do. that is a great question. it's a great thing to focus on. cut-aways as an issue, that goes back to kennedy and nixon. we've been talking about this part of reaction shots over 50 years. candidates still haven't mastered the thought you have to think about what you're looking like when you don't speak.
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bill clinton was one who actually used to practice his facial expressions for when he wasn't talking. i think most candidates would poo-poo that idea, but i think there is value in it. >> there is spin room for both sides, but the spin is going to be happening in the moment through social media, through twitter, through facebook. do you think that is a huge development because one false move can be global in a matter of seconds and trending on twitter? >> absolutely. you're on to something with that theory. i think twitter becomes the new spin room. the difference is that the spin room is spinning during the debate, not necessarily after. also, always before the spinning was handed down from the top down, and now you've got everybody in the country with the ability to weigh in and have an opinion as the debate is happening. i see a shift in a couple of ways. not just a time shift from after the debate to during the debate, but also a shift in who is driving the conversation.
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>> it will be a good one to watch. alan schroeder of north eastern university, a great institution, my grandfather's alma mater. thanks for joining me today. >> thank you, thomas. >> we'll have special debate coverage throughout the day tomorrow and primetime coverage with "hardball" with chris matthews at 5:00 person eastern leading up to the first presidential debate at 9:00 p.m. eastern time. we are following breaking news out of arizona a border patrol agent has been shot and killed. let me see here. that is a great question. i think justice scalia is a very good judge. justice kennedy. >> mass mistakes. fireworks during last night's showdown between elizabeth warren and scott brown. the stumbles, the highlights and who won the night? ♪ these are...
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welcome back. we are following this breaking news out of arizona. a border patrol agent has been shot and killed in naco along the border near tucson. both were patrolling on horseback in an area known as a drug-smuggling corridor. the wounded agent was air-lifted by helicopter to a hospital and is expected to recover. we'll work on more details and bring them to you. we have a look at some of the other stories topping the news. senate leaders are said to be close to a deal that would tackle the fiscal cliff facing the country. the combination of tax hikes and spending cuts that are set to kick in in january. a new report by the nonpartisan tax policy center says 90% of americans will see their taxes go up by an average of $3,500 per household if congress fails to act. a "new york times" front page story claims american generals in afghanistan are abandoning hopes of striking a
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peace deal with the taliban. "the times" report that the top military and diplomatic officials are laying the ground work for afghans to work out a deal themselves after u.s. forces pull out in two years' time. richard engel filed this report from america's longers war. >> reporter: these village elders tell me once u.s. troops leave, a civil war will begin and u.s.-trained afghan forces will not be able to stop it. are you preparing for this fight? are you already stock piling weapons and ammunition and getting yourself ready? yes, we are. we will definitely fight. what about the afghan government? it's meaningless here, they say. you think it's possible the taliban will try to come back? >> translator: yes, they will. it makes a decades-worth of american battles seem futile. >> richard engel reporting there. the white house held secret meetings in the last few months to examine the threat of al
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qaeda in north africa. this is according to "the washington post." the talks focus on ways to help regional militaries could be front al qaeda-linked groups, but are exploring the possibility of direct u.s. intervention. these discussions gained more urgency after that deadly attack on the american consulate in ben ghazi that killed our ambassador and three other americans. new poll numbers on the state of the presidential race. this has some republican pundits suggest a polling conspiracy theory against governor romney. more on that breaking news out of pennsylvania. a judge's ruling on the state's controversial voter i.d. law. philadelphia mayor michael nutter will join me live about what this means for his state. [ female announcer ] ready for a taste of what's hot?
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they're this season's must-have accessory. mike rowe here at a ford tell me fiona, who's having a big tire event? your ford dealer. who has 11 major brands to choose from? your ford dealer. who's offering a rebate? your ford dealer. who has the low price tire guarantee... affording peace of mind to anyone who might be in the market for a new set of tires? your ford dealer. i'm beginning to sense a pattern. buy four select tires, get a $60 rebate. use the ford service credit credit card, get $60 more. that's up to $120. where did you get that sweater vest? your ford dealer. >>. >> she's obviously misstating the facts. these were rejected by democrats and republicans, professor. if you're going to comment on my
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record, i would have you refer to it -- excuse me. i'm not a student in your classroom. please let me respond, okay? thank you. >> it was a tense and testy showdown in boston last night as republican senator scott brown squared off against challenger democratic elizabeth warren. they butted against everything from immigration and jobs. both sides are hoping all the bickering will give them a bull p in the polls in a close contest. 18% of state voters are undid he sighted about who should win that seat. joining us live is kelly o'donnell and from boston proper, michael levinson. kelly, i want to start with you. bring us up to speed about the debate itself. did either candidate gain any ground overnight, especially after what we saw in just that one clip there, it was tense and testy throughout. >> it was. we've been meeting a lot of those undecided voters who were
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looking for an answer in the debate. both candidates were able to make their case about why they believe they're the right choice, but it was surprising a couple of the stumbles. in part because it revealed something the critic of that candidate might want to seize on. first elizabeth warren, harvard professor. would she be willing to work with those on the other side? would she bring more of a cooperation to the senate where there is so much gridlock. david gregory asked her about that. she had an interesting response. >> can you name some republicans in the senate today that you are able to work with on big issues, substantive issues that the country faces? >> i think probably richard lugar would be one that comes to mind. >> he's not going to be there. >> he's not going to be there. >> who else would it be? >> that is a problem. >> a big mistake because richard lugar is retiring because he was
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defeated in a primary. something that someone about to go to the senate, you could argue probably should have known. she couldn't come up with another name. obviously, an uncomfortable moment for her. important because voters here tell us they want someone who will be cooperative because they don't like the gridlock. for scott brown who tries to tell voters at every turn he's an independent thinker, not so much a republican, he was asked a question that made him look perhaps more conservative than he would like. brown is a lawyer and senators do confirm supreme court nominees. this question carried some weight. >> let me see here. that's a great question. i think justice scalia is a very good judge. justice kennedy. justice kennedy is obviously very good and justice roberts. justice sotomayor. they are very qualified people there. >> the key there, the question
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from david gregory was name your model supreme court justice. brown appeared to pause there in an awkward way. didn't seem prepared for that. the first name that came to mind is one of the most conservative justices scalia. he followed quickly with kennedy who is the swing vote, but it was an awkward moment, especially because of the crowd reaction which we saw in both of those exchanges that appeared to make the candidates feel a bit of the embarrassment or awkwardness of the moment. that is what debates can do. they put candidates in uncomfortable positions and voters have to decide how they fared. there were lots of substantive talk of the issues throughout the debate. those are revealing glimpses. >> i'm going to ask you to stand by and bring in michael to the conversation. last night david gregory went to the native american controversy. i want to play how each responded. >> i have never used the information about our native american heritage to get any advantage. not to apply to college, not to
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apply to law school and not to get hired for any job. i was listed in a directory as i listed myself assassinative american. i was listed there. it's part of who i am. >> do you consider yourself a minority? >> i consider myself as having a native american background. that's what i said. that's what i am. >> i know it's questioning what her parents told her when she was younger or all the way through that time frame, but when she was asked by the "boston herald," why is harvard touting her as a minority, a woman of color, a native american, she said she didn't know. after five weeks of misleading the papers and reporters, she said i self-reported. she never answered why she did that. >> does this issue really need to persist in the debate as it goes forward? it seems as if this issue is hurting both sides as they try to press on it, explain it, press on it, explain it. >> that's a good question. we did a poll on sunday that asked voters what do they think
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about this issue? 70% said they are not going to change their minds based on this native american controversy. there was some indication in the poll it's having an effect. voters are more likely to say that elizabeth warren is dishonest and that's about 10% of voters up from 2% the last time we polled. there may be some effect on the margin. voters know so much about this issue. they've seen it on the ads. how much more can you gain by hammering it? >> it's so interesting massachusetts, senator brown, trying to put his space now between himself and the gop and mitt romney to court independent voters out there when we look at the make-up, we consider 18% of mass voters undecided. what do you think will tip one way or the other? >> i think a lot of this will hinge on the presidential election. there is some evidence that a lot of these people are obama voters who are marginal democrats and may just click down the line, don't follow politics that closely and may vote for warren because she is a
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democrat. no matter how much brown does as an individual in the campaign, the obama effect in massachusetts could swamp his efforts. >> what have you seen, the tone of people as they are paying attention and watching this? there was some argument on the street. >> there was a lot of attention and a lot of, i would say, hypersupporters going at each other before the debate. i was able to spend considerable time with both candidates over the weekend, seeing them on the campaign trail. what is so striking is that both seem to be well regarded. scott brown is described as the most popular in massachusetts. elizabeth warren, one issue for her, massachusetts never elected a woman to the senate or to become governor. each has beluilt-in challenges. >> thank you both. i appreciate it. we have new national numbers out today on the presidential race. quinnipiac university has
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president obama leading mitt romney 49% to 45%. that lead is all about the gender gap. in the poll, the president leads romney by 18 points among women. while romney holds a 10-point advantage among men. peter brown is assistant director of the quinnipiac university polling center and joins us from washington, d.c. can you tell from the polling what specifically feeds into the gender gap? are women happier with president obama or is this just an anti-romney vote? >> historically, women are more likely to be democrat, men republican. women see a greater role for government overall. not a single here or there, but overall. they are less tax averse than men tend to be. men tend to be more tax averse. they favor small role for government. in a campaign which role of government and taxes and spending are the key issues,
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this breakdown is not surprising. what is interesting is that the gender gap has been around a long time. which size is able to maximize its gender better and hold its own among the other? what we are seeing is the president's ability to hold women. he is doing well among single women. quinnipiac did a poll earlier where the overall margin was in the same situation. single women were backing mr. obama 2-1. >> the numbers you would think would be daunting. more people think they are worse off four years ago than they were today. the president maintains his lead overall. you would think that would help mitt romney. >> you would think it is. it probably does to an extent. one of the problems mr. romney has is that voters just don't like him very much. we asked voters if they have a favorable, unfavorable of the president.
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they have a net unfavorable of the president and unfavorable for mitt romney. >> pollsters have been under fire from the right. >> you know it's a piece of garbage. i believe it's head to head in new hampshire. i've seen enough other polls to tell you that is a piece of garbage. >> calling it garbage. governor sununu wasn't talking about one of your polls, but one in new hampshire. how do you fight against kill the messenger? is this different than the past? >> it's not all that different. quinnipiac and most major polls do not weight their polls for party i.d. if someone passes our voter screen, they pass our likely voter. we ask if they are a democrat, republican or independent. voter identification and party identification is a changing characteristic.
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in 2010, democrats were complaining about the polls because party i.d. figures were republican. in ohio, ted strickland, the democratic governor went out of his way to personally attack the quinnipiac poll saying the numbers were skew because we didn't have enough democrats. ted strickland today is a former governor. this is what happens. the party i.d. number reflects changing views and values. two things probably moved the polls. one was the judgment of voters that frankly the republican television show wasn't up to the democratic television show at the conventions. they liked the democratic show better and liked president obama's remarks better than mr. romney. over the previous week we had tremendous media coverage of romney's 47% figure. that is something that was in the news, got tremendous coverage at the time that quinnipiac was in the field and a lot of other polls were in the
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field. >> both sides will tell you they don't pay attention to the polls, but sure enough when one side is down, they'll be fast to poo-poo them. we have a new nbc/"wall street journal" poll out tonight with fascinating insights ahead of tomorrow night's debates. up next, i'll talk to philadelphia mayor michael nutter about the breaking news on p.a.'s voter i.d. law being blocked. governor romney is a self-proclaimed red sox fan. why did he make an investment in the yankees?
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including medicare. find your co-pay at myflexpen.com. i'm bara ck o bama and i approve romney: "it's time to stand up to the cheaters" vo: tough on china? not mitt romney. when a flood of chinese tires threatened a thousand american jobs... it was president obama who stood up to china and protected american workers. mitt romney attacked obama's decision... said standing up to china was "bad for the nation and our workers." how can mitt romney take on the cheaters... when he's taking their side? we want to dig deeper on that breaking news in pennsylvania where the state's tough new voter i.d. law has been blocked, after the judge heard about anything from long lines at the dmv to miss informed licensing clerks. residents can freely vote on november 6th without showing
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photo i.d. joining me is philadelphia mayor michael nutter. what are your thoughts on today's rulings? i know the plaintiffs' attorney called this a win. >> sure. it's an 18-page decision, thomas. certainly written in the wonderful language of legalese. the bottom line is eligible vote others can vote on election day november 6th wooch. we are excited about that. the soft rollout period we experienced in the primary earlier this year, basically the judge is going to continue that. poll workers can ask a voter for i.d., but that voter cannot be denied the right to vote because they don't have the i.d. >> when you look at this in direct correlation with what we saw from a three-judge federal panel and texas' voter i.d. law and they use the language this would put an unfair burden on the poor, equating it to poll
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tax, do you think it is the reason why it's going to stay in the lower court and not going to rise above and most likely will go away? >> i'm hopeful that the commonwealth or others, whoever is eligible will not make an appeal. we are five weeks out from election day. there is so much confusion. almost a daily barrage from a new tweak here, a new tweak there, some decision to implement a law from my perspective a bad solution looking for a problem. i don't know a great deal about the texas case, but the judge in this case was clear. based on the testimony taken recently, the judge determined that the number of i.d.s issued so far would not match up with the number of i.d.s that need to be issued by election day. therefore, any number of people would have been disenfranchised
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by this original ballot that said if you did not have your i.d. you could not vote at the polling place, you would vote by provisional ballot, then had six days to prove you had i.d. i think eventually the judge realized that would lead to the disenfranchisement of tens of thousands of people all across the commonwealth of pennsylvania. we don't need this law. people have been voting. the commonwealth could not elicit, show one in-person voter fraud case in decades. i think the judge made the right decision. we'll fight about the rest of the provisions of the law later on. it's important that it's not in effect for this upcoming presidential election. >> five weeks to go and we remind everybody, 20 electoral votes up for grab in pennsylvania. philadelphia mayor michael nutter, thank you, sir. early voting is under way in the critical battleground state of ohio. we are seeing folks lined up. first lady michelle obama is in
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that state today to mark the occasion. some people camped out overnight to cast their ballots. among them ohio state senator nina turner who said this on "the ed show" last night. >> this is the least we can do in the state solly daisol li d solly dare darety for poor folks and students that we understand how we got over and our soul looks back and how we got over and we are not going to let some backwards republicans stop us from exercising our right to vote. we stand up for the middle class in this state and in this nation and we are standing strong for our foremothers and forefathers and why the early vote is vitally important. >> we are living in the early vote by the end of the week, 35 states across the country will be voting early either in person or by absentee ballot. >> guess who joined the list of undecided voters. here's a hint, it wasn't honey boo boo. we asked you about the important issue you want addressed at
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tomorrow's debate and here's what some of your answers were. becky tweets us what's each candidate's plan to help the working poor, energy, climate, renewables, romney wants to kill tax credit for wind power and mark wants to know who can sing the best al green? all find me on facebook or tweet me at thomas a. roberts. humans -- sometimes life trips us up.
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so the numbers of up for grabs independents may be dwindling but the meatball vote is still available. it's time for the policy side bar. snooki, yeah, of the jersey shore, new mom, told the daily news this week she has no idea who she's going to vote for. the republican nominee endorsed snooki over one of her reality rivals earlier on "kelly and michael." take a look. >> honey boo boo or snooki? >> do you know who either of these two are? >> i do. >> i'm kind of a snooki fan.
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>> i so wanted to say on "regis and kelly." had to catch myself. she joins the octomom and kim kardashian who remains undecided. the twitter verse is saying romney is practicing for zingers, people are proposing lines for romney like -- i just flew in from one of my many luxurious homes and boy, are my arms tired and you're so poor you only have one house. red sox nation brace yourselves for this one. according to buzz feed, romney a well-known boston fan has a connection to bean town's arch enemy. his blind trust owned a financial stake in yankees entertainment back in 2007. that's going to wrap things up for me today. "now" with alex wagner is coming your way next. what do you have coming up? >> curse of the bambino, thomas. oh. >> '07, baby. >> continues the contours of this race, my friend. thomas, today we are asking the big questions ahead of tomorrow night's stress test including,
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which romney will show up? the severe conservative or the middle line massachusetts governor. electoral prognosticator extraordinary, the great nate silver shows us his road map to 270 and explains the differences between hedgehogs and foxes. and blocking the vote, a pennsylvania judge halts that state's controversial voter i.d. law. will other attempts at voter disenfranchisement face similar debates. we'll get revved up with reverend al sharpton when now starts in a mere 180 seconds. ov, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. it put me at ease that you could smoke on the first week. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems,
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